Examining the Factor Structure of a Risk Assessment Inventory in Young Offenders: FER-R, Risk and Resource Assessment Form

The FER-R, Risk and Resource Assessment Form, is a multidimensional inventory of structured professional judgment that assesses criminogenic risks and resources for the design and management of individualized intervention plans with criminally sanctioned adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the FER-R, reviewing its factorial structure to contribute evidence of convergent and discriminant construct validity in a sample of adolescents sentenced for crimes in Chile. For each domain (risks and resources) with its respective facets, a unidimensional bifactor structure (CFA-BF) was obtained, with adequate indices of fit that confirmed its construct validity, while the convergent validity was demonstrated with the YLS/CMI and the divergent validity with two MACI scales. The FER-R adds factorial validity to the evidence of the previously reported predictive validity, making it a robust inventory for the evaluation of young offenders, and a relevant tool to manage differentiated interventions in Chile, with a high potential for use in Latin America. The importance of finding a suitable balance in assessing risks and protective factors is discussed, in order to manage interventions adjusted to the needs of the adolescents to promote their criminal desistance.

Lost in Translation or Just Too Pragmatic?

The Broader Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ) is a measure to assess a set of personality and language characteristics reflecting the phenotypic expression of autistic traits in neurotypically developing individuals. This paper aims to evaluate the newly developed German version of the BAPQ (BAPQ-G) in terms of its factorial validity. We performed confirmatory factor analyses and correlations with other measures of the broader autism phenotype on three German samples ( N1 = 248, N2 = 289, N3 = 255). Associations with other constructs are in line with the assumptions, yet the anticipated factor structure of the BAPQ-G did not meet the cutoff criteria. These results are discussed along with recent findings regarding other cultural versions of the BAPQ.

Assessing subjective university success with the Subjective Academic Achievement Scale (SAAS)

University achievement is a highly relevant educational outcome with implications for students' academic and professional futures. As the majority of students that drop out of university do so due to subjective reasons in contrast to a lack of capability to handle the workload, a measure of subjective university achievement (complementing grade point average) is helpful to enhance educational research on causes, correlates, and consequences of university success. This study aims to introduce a short scale for assessing subjective academic achievement – the SAAS – and provide first results on its psychometric properties. Based on two independent samples of university students, the internal consistency, factorial validity, and construct validity of the SAAS are corroborated, suggesting the measure's administration in educational research on university success and related issues.

Measuring Six Facets of Curiosity in Two Cultures: A Validation of the Theory of Multi-Facetted Curiosity in Germany and the UK

The five-dimensional curiosity-scale revised by Kashdan et al. (2020) is the most comprehensive inventory of curiosity. We provide the first validation of this newly proposed structure of curiosity in cultures (Germany and UK) other than the United States. In the process, we develop the first adaptation of this inventory in another language, namely German (6DNS). We also provide the first measurement invariance analyses for this curiosity inventory across two cultures and the socio-demographics age, sex, and education. We use two diverse quota samples from Germany (N = 486) and the UK (N = 483). In both countries, we investigate the single facets' reliability, factorial validity, and convergent and divergent validity with a large set of individual-differences constructs. Findings demonstrate that both the new German version (6DNS) and the English version (5DCR) show psychometric properties similar to the original findings by Kashdan et al. (2020). Moreover, all facets of the inventory reach at least scalar invariance across cultures, sex, education, and largely across age. The findings support the six-faceted theory of curiosity and show that 5DCR/6DNS is the first curiosity inventory that allows an assessment of a multifaceted curiosity across cultures and for heterogeneous samples.

Psychometric Properties and Cultural Adaptation of the Polish Version of the Healthy Lifestyle and Personal Control Questionnaire (HLPCQ)

Background: Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), sometimes referred to as lifestyle diseases, are the most common cause of death and disability worldwide. Thus, healthcare professionals should be equipped with tools, knowledge, skills, and competencies in the newly distinguished field of lifestyle medicine. The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Healthy Lifestyle and Personal Control Questionnaire (HLPCQ). The Polish version of the HLPCQ would further provide Polish healthcare professionals with a useful and convenient tool for routine lifestyle assessment while giving HLPCQ novel use and potential for further research. Methods: Before testing its psychometric properties, the HLPCQ was translated and adapted from the original Greek version into Polish. Subsequently, we tested the instrument’s psychometric properties on a sample of 2433 participants. In addition, we tested the factorial validity of the HLPCQ using confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis. Results: There were more female than male participants (91.78%). Most of them were middle-aged (30.40 ± 7.71), single (39.62%), and living with family (70.65%). In terms of residence, 1122 (46.12%) participants lived in cities with a population of over 500,000. In terms of reliability, the internal consistency of the Polish version and its domains is excellent. Cronbach’s alpha for each of the domains of the scale ranged between 0.6 and 0.9. Conclusions: The Polish version of the Healthy Lifestyle and Personal Control Questionnaire (HLPCQ) has good characteristics of factorial validity and can be used in clinical practice and research.

Adolescents’ proxy reports on obesity-related parenting practices: Factorial validity and reliability across four behavioral domains

Background Energy-balance behaviors are precursors to obesity shaped by the practices or strategies that many parents implement. Although key stakeholders to their families, adolescents are rarely considered to report on these obesity-related parenting practices. The aim of this study is to assess the factorial and predictive validity of adolescents’ proxy-report of parents’ obesity-related parenting across four behavioral domains. Methods This study used data from the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) study. This study tests whether adolescents’ proxy reports about their parents’ obesity-related parenting are significantly associated with parents’ responses on their own obesity-related parenting, as well as whether these reports are significantly associated to parent-adolescent energy-balance behaviors. Factorial validity was assessed using linear regression and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), whereas predictive validity was assessed using Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM). Results Regression results indicated that adolescents’ proxy report is significantly associated with parents’ report of their own parenting in all four domains (β = .59 − .71; p < 0.05). CFA results indicated a final factor structure that loaded significantly onto hypothesized obesity-related parenting domains (β > .30) in both adolescents and parents. APIM results indicated that both parent- (β = .32; p < 0.05) and adolescent-(β = .21; p < 0.05) reported obesity parenting for fruit and vegetable consumption were associated with their own fruit and vegetable intake. In addition, adolescent-reported physical activity parenting was significantly associated with adolescent physical activity (β = 0.23; p < 0.05). Regarding partner effects, only parent-reported parenting for fruit and vegetable consumption were significantly associated with adolescent intake of fruit and vegetables (β = 0.15, p < 0.05) and adolescent-reported physical activity parenting was significantly associated with parental physical activity (β = 0.16, p < 0.05). Neither adolescent nor parent reported parenting were significantly associated with screen time or junk food intake outcomes. Each final obesity-related parenting scale had good internal consistency (a = .74-.85). Conclusions We found that adolescent- and parent-reported obesity-related parenting were significantly associated, while adolescent-reported parenting were more influential of fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity than parent-reported parenting. These findings suggest that adolescent proxy reports may be a valid source of information on obesity-related parenting.